‘The Phantom Menace’ still provides excellent entertainment

As a popcorn flick, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace is a fun movie featuring dazzling visuals, killer art direction and some thrilling action sequences. As a film that furthers the mythos and legend of the Star Wars universe, it somewhat fails. So it all depends on what kind of day you’re having. If you’re interested in entertainment, The Phantom Menace is enjoyable. If you’re interested in substance, you might be disappointed.

George Lucas and company have decided to rerelease the first episode (which is actually the fourth installment in the series) in an exquisitely rendered 3D presentation. The updating, which has been maligned by some critics, is welcome news. Star Wars never looked better, and it seems like an entirely appropriate move for the franchise. The landscape of Tatooine and Naboo are even more picturesque. The Jedi lightsaber duels are finely focused. And the water world of the Gungan people is gorgeous.

The story behind The Phantom Menace sounds needlessly banal. The opening credits deal with trade blockades and taxes. It’s pretty heady stuff for a movie with a target audience that includes young fanboys. Still, after the credits fly into the galaxy, the convoluted plot simmers down and everything seems to work nicely.

Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) and his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) intercept the Trade Federation’s plans to take over Naboo … and so begins an intergalactic seesaw match between the peaceful Queen Amidala (Natalie Portman) and the warlike Sen. Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid). Of course, anyone who knows how this story turns out will be able to recognize Palpatine’s voice. Spoiler alert: He’s Darth Sidious.

The two Jedis team up with Jar Jar Binks, a Gungan, and decide to report back to Coruscant and the Jedi Council. Before they can make it there safely, their broken ship stops in Tatooine, a desert planet home to Anakin Skywalker (Jake Lloyd), a young boy who seems to exude a great deal of the “The Force,” a special power reserved for Jedis.

Yoda (Frank Oz) makes a few appearances, as does new Jedi Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson). However, without the Clone Wars in full effect, the Jedi Council doesn’t have much to do, except sit around and think.

Amidala, Skywalker, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Jar Jar all team up for the movie’s grand finale: A showdown between the Gungans and the Trade Federation’s droid army.

The Phantom Menace feels like a precursor film. Anakin, of course, grows up to become Darth Vader. But in these early stages, he’s just an annoying little boy with a love for pod racing. He has no father and his mother, Shmi (Pernilla August), seems to have immaculately conceived the child.

Sidioius, who plays the Trade Federation like a puppet, also dispatches Darth Maul, a red-and-black horned beast, to kill the two Jedis. As the Gungans face the droids in the lush fields of Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan face off against Maul in a perfectly staged lightsaber duel.

The highlight of the film has to be the pod race between Anakin and Sebulba. It serves no real purpose, but is a nice diversion from the overall plot. We’re led to believe that Qui-Gon’s wagering on the race with Anakin’s owner, Watto, eventually frees the boy, but that all seems like convenient tying up of loose ends. The pod race is cool, and that’s why it’s featured as the main event. Period.

So why is The Phantom Menace hated by Star Wars fans? It probably begins with Lloyd’s performance. Quite simply, he was the wrong actor for the part, but the lines of dialogue he’s forced to say are equally atrocious. It’s easy to look beyond the performance. He was a child when he performed the role, so there’s not much Lloyd could have done with the part. Of course, child actors can turn in effective performances (just look at Finding Neverland, Hugo or Let the Right One In), so the role feels like a missed opportunity than a total failure.

Another problem is the character of Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best). The character is annoying and difficult to take in large doses. His strange mangling of the English language sounds like an offensive impersonation. He’s likable, in the sense that the character means well, but the execution doesn’t work. I appreciated the rest of the Gungans, but could definitely have done without Jar Jar.

Other than these two glaring problems, The Phantom Menace works nicely. It was never intended to solve all of the galaxy’s problems. This is the first episode; its sole mission is to launch the series. That’s a difficult proposition, especially when so many people have fond memories of the original trilogy. But the movie does feature entraining scenes, and overall it captures some of that Star Wars magic. And if you need proof of the film’s quality, just look at the wide-eyed expressions of little kids who watch the movie for the first time. Episode I appeals to the kid in all of us, and, on that front, it achieves its lofty goals.

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace

• 1999

• Written and directed by George Lucas

• Starring Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Ian McDiarmid, Natalie Portman, Jake Lloyd, Pernilla August, Ahmed Best, Frank Oz, Ray Park and Terence Stamp

• Running time: 136 minutes

• Rated PG for sci-fi action/violence

• Rating: